George Honeyman scored his first league goal as Sunderland’s unbeaten start to the season continued.

The 22-year-old academy product netted his first goal for the club to win last week’s Carabao Cup tie at Bury, and for more than an hour it looked as though his early strike at Hillsborough might be enough to sink Sheffield Wednesday as Sunderland’s defence stood firm in the face of heavy pressure.

But David Jones’ stunning strike 20 minutes from the end was the spark for a late Wednesday surge which saw Gary Hooper hit the woodwork and Honeyman clear off the line, to preserve Sunderland ’s point.

Simon Grayson named the same starting XI for a third successive game, sticking with the players who earned a draw at home to Derby County on the opening day and then won at Norwich City on Sunday, and this draw means the Black Cats have now taken five points from their first three games.

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Wednesday boss Carlos Carvahal made three changes to the side that drew here against QPR at the weekend.

Daniel Pudil, Almen Abdi, and Sam Winnall came into the side, in place of injury victims Glenn Loovens and Sam Hutchinson, while Jordan Rhodes was dropped to the bench.

Sunderland made the perfect start, taking full advantage when Wednesday were temporarily down to ten men after right-back Jack Hunt was off the field having required treatment for an early knock.

James Vaughan fed the ball to McGeady on the left flank where Hunt should have been stationed, and his low cross found Honeyman who had time to take a couple of touches before firing home.

And Sunderland could have taken the game away from their hosts before half-time, with Billy Jones heading wide from a McGeady corner on the quarter-hour, and Lewis Grabban missing the target 15 minutes later with a free header from a right-wing McGeady free-kick.

Left-back Brendan Galloway could also have got in on the act five minutes before the interval, but his low shot was too close to former Sunderland keeper Keiren Westwood and he made the save.

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Wednesday put the Sunderland defence under plenty of pressure, both from open play and a series of corners, but the Black Cats’ back four stood up to the test.

Wednesday’s best chance came on 20 minutes when ex-Middlesbrough man Adam Reach cut the ball back from the byline on the left, Gary Hooper left it for Winnall behind him, but Jason Steele made a fine save to deny the striker.

The Owls sent on former Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher at half-time and switched to a 4-3-3 system in a bid to find a way back into the game.

They continued to dominate possession in the second period but Sunderland’s defence.

At the other end, Vaughan went close twice in quick succession – first just failing to make contact with a cross from Grabban, and then blasting a volley wide of the target.

But Wednesday levelled 20 minutes from time when a rare slack ball out of defence from Lamine Kone was seized upon by Jones, and his 30-yard strike flew past Steele.

Wednesday finished the game strongly and Sunderland were hanging on in the final ten minutes.

Honeyman cleared off the line at a goalmouth scramble, and Hooper crashed a shot against the crossbar and over the top.